Jackson Lafferty

Mr. Speaker, this is the very reason why we’re doing the hundred mini iPads in March, March 31st, just to have a review of the testing of the technology, the cost factor and the rolling out of the program, where we may run into some obstacles or developing some programming of apps and so forth and we do have a monitoring mechanism in place as well. The Member was referring to how we evaluate and monitor, so those are areas that we have established, as well, for this particular area and also other projects in play. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I can assure the Member that it’s not. Since 2013-14 and also ’15, we’ve been allocating funds towards this particular programming, mini iPads for new parents, and this is very important for the parents so it can provide increased access to early childhood development programming. Not only that, some of the parents also share with us and told us that they need help in understanding and tracking their children’s developmental milestones, providing humanization, nutrition information, recalling safety alerts. These are some of the areas that have been shared with us, and also the language apps...

Yes, 2010 we’ve developed a residential school curriculum that we wanted to focus on those residential school survivors to hear their stories, and we have reached out to them. We’ll carry on their stories for generations to come. That’s part of the Grade 10 curriculum within the high school. It’s mandatory. They need to have the Grade 10 residential curriculum before they graduate. That’s just one piece that we’ve developed as part of our programming to deal with residential schools, and there will be plenty of others that I will be addressing with the leadership at the…(inaudible)…of...

The information that we’ve compiled, obviously with consent from the clientele as well as the survivors and even the families of the survivors, obviously we have work if we can release those names. But surely, I’ll be working very closely with the Member if we could allow that to happen and then provide that information to the Member.

Mr. Speaker, all children in the NWT deserve the best possible care, nurturing and support, so that they can develop physically, emotionally, socially, culturally and spiritually. When these supports are in place right from the start, children are more likely to grow up to become healthy, productive members of their communities and society.

The departments of Health and Social Services and Education, Culture and Employment continue to work in partnership to ensure that there is increased access and participation in early childhood programs, enhanced quality of early childhood services and...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. All of the above, yes. Those are key discussions we are currently having with the regional groups, the stakeholders and those people that are actively engaged with educating our kids; as well, the school boards, the leadership.

We’ve had regional forums, as well, when we spoke about Aboriginal Student Achievement and leading towards Early Childhood Development Framework, the 10-year framework, and also Education Renewal and Innovation. So there’s a lot of work ahead of us, and that will certainly capture what the Member’s raising the concerns over the years and we are...

We are discussing both of either the parents going into the school system or the teachers going into households to talk about attendance as well. Parents and guardians are encouraged to ensure their children attend school on a regular basis, Mr. Speaker. When an individual misses one day a week of school over the life of high school, it equals one year without school. That has a tremendous impact. So there should be attendance of 90 percent or more. That’s our target that we want to achieve. We are working very closely with the school boards to achieve that. We are developing various action...

Mr. Speaker, over the years in my tenure as Minister of Education since 2007, I’ve visited so many schools in the Northwest Territories, and each school has their own incentive program to deal with absenteeism and also have regular attendance. I must commend those individual school boards for making that effort. We always support them as well.

Through the Education Renewal there are opportunities such as dual credit courses that we are starting to offer in the high school, whether it be early childhood focused or trades access programming that we are seriously looking at delivering to our high...

The quickest answer would be yes. Again, we are working with school boards to establish those kinds of support mechanisms. Again, poor attendance is a symptom of underlying issues, such as students being disengaged in learning, negative feelings within our schools towards students or families, a sense of not belonging, and the safety factor is a huge issue. It’s a priority for school boards. Our prime focus is on student well-being through safe and caring school practices, providing nutritious food in our school system. Those are fundamental and what we’ve heard from our elders and educators...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This particular area is a prime focus of my department to improve the overall education system in the Northwest Territories. The students learning and success will improve if attendance rates also improve. The Member is alluding to that. Ensuring students attend regularly is a shared responsibility between the school boards, ourselves as the Department of Education, families and the community at large.

We are doing what we can. Within Educational Renewable and Innovation, we want to focus on students’ well-being through safety and care as school practice and nutritious food...